It Started in the Snow
by Galaxy Eclipse
Summary: It started to snow, and after awhile it got to be really deep. Nezumi still goes to work, leaving Shion alone in their house. But Shion's sense of justice tells him that he has to go help Dogkeeper even if he has to brave huge snowdrifts to get there.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright my first attempt at writing for No. 6. I also don't understand Nezumi at all. - _-' I hope that you all enjoy. There will hopefully be at least one more chapter if someone wants it.**

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"Snow," whispered Shion, completely mesmerized. It got mostly cleaned up in No. 6 because officials claimed that it was a hazard to public transportation. Due to that never before had he seen snow blanketing over everything freely as it did now. Nezumi was once again working in the theatre, and had left before he was awake. Somehow his gray eyed companion always managed to get up first and fall asleep last. Closing the front door behind him he looked out before him to where Nezumi had plowed through the snow creating a clear trail.

The white stuff was about knee height, prompting him to wonder how long it had taken Nezumi to get through it. It probably took him less time, he reflected. 'After all, Nezumi is taller than I am now...' Shrugging it off Shion set off to complete his own task, walking to Dogkeeper's and taking care of the dogs. His job wasn't merely to wash the dogs, it was general care too. Refusing to shirk from his responsibility he started walking, thinking that Dogkeeper was going to be expecting him in about an hour. He trudged along Nezumi's tracks, following them until he had to head off in a different direction to minimize his work level.

After a while he turned and took his first step into the unbeaten snow. It was almost unbearably cold even with only one step. Shivering he noticed that something was sliding around inside his coat so he unzipped it. Much to his surprise it was Hamlet.

"Hamlet what are you doing in there? Nezumi didn't tell you to watch me did he?" Shrugging it off he continued to walk through the snow banks, trying not to think about how cold he was. It was so much taller when there was no path to walk on, and after a time his fingers and toes were completely numb. 'I'm going to get frostbite or hypothermia or just plain freeze…'

Ignoring the reasonable part of him that said to turn back and go back home he trudged on, not caring about how it had once again started to snow heavily. The wet flakes landed all over him, some going down the neck of his coat collar causing him to shiver even more violently. But still he walked on. His mind seemed to have given up on rational thought, and didn't try to get him to turn around though somewhere inside he realized that he had no idea where he was. Wherever he was walking it definitely wasn't toward Dogkeeper's hotel.

-xXVXx-

Almost no one braved the cold to see him preform today. Since he was losing money to keep all the actors there to perform with so few spectators the manager started sending them home. Nezumi rolled his eyes at a woman who was trying to catch his attention by shouting his stage name. Eve. He had chosen that name for himself, though he was called many besides that. He almost had different identities when someone called him by one of his other names.

On stage he was Eve. Out on the street he was Nezumi. Some also called him Rat or Mouse, but that was pretty much the equivalent of Nezumi. He didn't care who called him what except for Shion. That bubble-headed fool could only call him by what he knew to be true. And since he didn't want Shion to call him "Eve" he stopped him from watching his performances. If he never saw him as Eve he couldn't call him Eve. It was some internal conflict. Why did he care if Shion called him Eve? He didn't know, and he tried his best not to care.

That was what went through his head every time he walked home alone from the theatre, or got up in the morning before his room-mate was awake to avoid the questions and walk to the theatre alone.

Shrugging it off he pulled on his jacket and began to walk in the general direction of his home. He wondered what Shion was eating for lunch. Maybe if he got back soon enough he could have some of it. Then he thought about how there never seemed to be any food missing from the kitchen, and there were never any dirty dishes. Maybe he used the food from Dogkeeper to buy his own food and create a secret stash? But that didn't seem right, Shion was such a trusting person down to his very nature, and he always seemed to be buying soup ingredients as soon as he collected his paycheck. And it wasn't like he never saw them again; they generally ate whatever he had bought within the next few nights.

Deciding that it wasn't his business how Shion ate during the day he shivered as a particularly strong gust of wind blew snow and icy temperatures at his coat. His first priority was to get out of the cold, then it was to eat lunch. Grumbling to himself about how he had wasted all that time going to work when he wasn't really getting paid he tried to trace his old footprints back home. While he had gone it had continued to snow, making it harder to see the trail he had created.

About halfway he noticed some newer looking prints going off in another direction, but clearly branching from his own. Curious he decided to investigate. Maybe Shion felt the need to play in the snow? That would be like him. He didn't seem to grasp how cruel and merciless snow, and just winter in general, was in the West Block. It killed more people than fights or lack of supplies every year, the cold temperatures and inability to acquire food in the deep slush combined were treacherous. It was also harder to find a job, meaning that people without a steady line of work were often in trouble almost immediately.

Shaking his head and hoping that if it was Shion he had gone back already he decided to follow the track a little while in case his bumbling companion had unwittingly been robbed. It wouldn't be the first time.

-xXVXx-

He was freezing. Already he was losing hope of ever seeing anyone again, and that was a feat in itself. Then he realized that the only reason he usually felt so optimistic and positive about everything was Nezumi. His faithful friend always stuck with him, though he was sure that he was nothing more than baggage that spoke and ate. He caused Nezumi extra trouble yet the other boy never even hinted at leaving him alone or using him for any gain.

Thankful as he was he wanted to ask Nezumi how he could be so kind, on the outside he certainly didn't seem like the sort to do that. Shion wanted to see his new friend as much as he wanted to see his mother. He knew it was wrong, that he was from inside the walls of No. 6 and Nezumi was from the West Block. No matter how hard he tried he doubted that he would ever be able to fully understand the world that his companion had lived in his entire life. But he swore that if he made it back to the house alive he would put in more of an effort.

Gasping from the effort he shuffled his stiff body back the way he had come, brain awakened from its frozen state. He had wasted a lot of time, and the trail was really hard to see now. Straining his eyes he continued on.

-xXVXx-

After a few minutes of rigorous walking he saw something stumbling towards him. Looking closer he realized that it was his friend and rushed to help him from falling over, which was an immediate option if he had not.

"Shion what are you doing out here?" He asked angrily, worried when the albino didn't answer right away. His skin looked so pale, almost the same color of the snow. It really made that red scar of his stick out, almost foretelling death with its sinister coloring. With Shion's usual skin tone it appeared to be a pinkish stipe, but now it was almost the color of a ruby, looking much like blood had been smeared across his face.

"I-I wanted to go help Dogkeeper…" His voice trailed off, not wanting to go into detail.

"Stupid! How could you have possibly made it there by yourself? Sometimes you can't even find the hotel when the sun is shining and you almost have a carpet leading the way!" Frustrated at Shion's sense of justice and how it tended to put him in danger Nezumi pulled him along at a quick pace, trying to reach their house as soon as he could.

-xXVXx-

"I know. I'm sorry Nezumi, I promise I won't do it again, and…" He cut himself off, not sure if he wanted to reveal how hard he was going to work to understand life in the West Block. Maybe he could improve discreetly and surprise Nezumi with his progress later!

"And what? Forget what you were going to say? Your brain really is full of air."

"Nothing, it was nothing." The tone of his voice suggested strongly that he was lying between his teeth, even to himself.

"Alright you majesty, if you say so," said Nezumi as he pushed the door open and pulled him inside. "Go take a hot bath right now, no excuses!" He sounded pretty serious. Well, he was probably in a bad mood from having to rescue him yet again. Then he realized that Nezumi was supposed to be at work, and almost opened his mouth to question him before he remembered the promise he had made to himself out in the snow. 'If he wants to tell me he will. No one around here seems to like questions, so I'll stop asking them.' Already it was difficult though, he was bursting to ask… But he shoved himself into the bathroom before it came out. It was going to be difficult, but there was no reason it couldn't be done. He was going to learn how to act like a native citizen of the West Block.


	2. Chapter 2

**The next chapter is here~ I hope that you all enjoy. I should be doing my homework right now... But I have given this to you instead. Thank you very much for the wonderful reviews, favs and follows!**

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What had Shion been thinking out there by himself? That idiot had issues with the simplest things about life in the West Block, yet he thought that he could brave the extreme weather. Who did that crazy idiot think he was? Surely he wasn't thinking that he was superior to the other citizens because he was originally from inside No. 6? Shuddering he pushed that thought away. Shion would never be that conceited towards others, no matter who they were.

He waited until he was sure that his companion was in the bath before hopping onto the bed and resumed analyzing Shion's behavior and personality. When they had gotten back his friend had been strangely quiet and almost reserved, but not without effort. It showed clearly on his face that he wanted to say (or ask knowing him) so much, yet he held it all in. Shion had almost no self-restraint, so it had to be important right?

Maybe he had been going to ask to go to one of his performances again. Well, maybe finally he was learning that he didn't want Shion to see him like that. He was a bit concerned about his health though. Since he was from that despicable community inside the wall he was extremely sensitive to the weather and stressful situations. It was pretty scary how his scar had suddenly stood out like that.

Pushing it out of his mind he glanced up as Shion walked in wearing some worn pajamas.

"Hey Nezumi, thanks for coming to get me," he tossed in his room-mates direction before turning to pluck a book off of the shelves. Humming quietly to himself he sat down on the edge of the couch and began to read. This was a bit out of the ordinary; usually he would give him 100 questions and make food. For once he seemed to be minding his own business and it was a bit unnerving.

-xXVXx-

'This is so hard! All I want is to talk to Nezumi… But he always tells me that I talk too much so I have to stay quiet!' Mentally twitching he tried to clear out the questions and concentrate on the piece of literature in his grasp. Truthfully at this point he didn't even know what it was called.

It went on for a few hours before he silently got up to make dinner. Then he handed Nezumi his share and ate his own. Without elaborating on his simple "good night" he slipped into bed facing the wall and tried to fall asleep. It didn't actually take him that long; reining his personality in was very draining.

-xXVXx-

Was Shion mad at him? Maybe he had done something that had made him angry without realizing it. Thinking back to the events of the day he determined that whatever it was Shion was getting worked up for no reason. Brushing off the part of him that was worried he slid into bed next to Shion, fully expecting the other to turn and cling to him. It seemed like whenever Shion was asleep some sixth sense of his told him that he had to press up right next to him.

He waited for about five minutes before his companion rolled over to face him. There seemed to be some sort of battle going on because Shion's face held a large range over emotions flitting over it. The indecision was catching and pretty soon Nezumi doubted himself and his choices, for stupid reasons really. In the end Shion ended up scooting about an inch closer before stopping and falling into a deeper sleep.

He managed to convince himself that night that he didn't miss the warmth that Shion shared with him, and the tingly feeling he got whenever the albino moved and brushed against him. He convinced himself for one night. But would he be able to do it later?

-xXVXx-

He did his best to wake up when Nezumi did, and to his surprise he actually managed it. Almost. He opened his eyes when he heard the front door close. Mentally congratulating himself he got dressed hurriedly and pulled on a coat, not even thinking about breakfast as he walked out the door. Today he would get to Dogkeeper's for sure to make up for yesterday. He also had a favor to ask.

After trudging through the snow for about a half hour the hotel finally came into sight. Sighing in relief he picked up his pace as he neared it, looking forward to the warm bodies of the dogs that he knew were inside. As he opened the front door and stepped inside he noticed something a bit out of the ordinary. No dogs were there to greet him, not a single one. It was abnormal for all of the dogs to be rented out at the same time. Then thinking about the weather he rationalized that of course people would need heat to stay alive in the snow.

Straightening up he walked up the stairs and toward the room that Dogkeeper seemed to use as an office of sorts. When he got inside his target for conversation was sitting in a corner going through some papers. When he entered she (I just think that Dogkeeper is a girl.) put them down and turned in his direction.

"I didn't figure that you'd be able to get here today," she hissed in his direction, not quite warmed up for conversation yet.

"I wanted to make up for yesterday," he paused. "And ask a favor." He was cringing as he said the part about the favor, but his mind was made up. To be self-sufficient in West Block he needed to brush up on his self-defense skills. When he was younger before that fateful night when Nezumi had entered his room through the window his mother had gotten him self-defense lessons. They were a covert operation that wasn't supposed to exist, but somehow she had made it happen for him. He was sure that there were things that she had given up for him to attend that class.

"What do you want? You'll have to pay, just 'cause we're friends you don't get special privledges." Clearly she wanted to see where he was going with his proposition.

"Please help me learn how to protect myself. I feel like I'm always depending on someone else to do the work for me, and if I find myself alone I need to be able to take care of things. I ask that you don't tell anyone though, and I will in some way pay for your silence." He hoped that she would say yes. If not he was in a bad situation where Nezumi might find out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you very much for reviewing everyone! At the end of the last chapter I admit it got rushed since I was already late going to my concert. I should be updating my other stuff, but... This popped into my mind first.**

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Suspicious she examined his expression, gauging how serious he was. When she determined that he was going to follow through with what he promised she gestured to the desk sitting against the wall.

"You start with my old uncle here." Seeing Shion's confused expression she laughed and waited for her uncle to emerge from underneath the piece of furniture. "He'll teach you the basics, but you'll have to pay extra for our "friend" not to find out about this. He nodded. Shion had expected nothing less from Dogkeeper, besides she did have a business to run and he was taking away a possible profit.

"Just one question, how is your uncle here going to teach me?"

"The right way, with experience. You'll have to defend yourself from his attacks. Don't worry, I'll tell him to go easy on ya thought," she said with a smirk. "Now get out there!"

-xXVXx-

Recognizing the clear dismissal Shion turned and made his way to the back lot where he usually washed the dogs. They had trampled down the snow and the clearing was sheltered from the wind by the enormous piles of trash covered in slush. In the beginning his reflexes were really dull and Dogkeeper's uncle was able to knock him over many times with almost no effort. After he started developing monster bruises his skills began to pick up and various moves began to come back to him. As they fought he thought back to his old classes and started to recollect how the moves had gone. Within almost a minute he had converted them to his own style, which seemed to lean more towards the offensive side of the scale.

-xXVXx-

Was Shion still at it? Her uncle had to be getting tired by now. Quietly she crept along the edges of the clearing to observe Shion's progress. That little runt was much better than she had given him credit for in her mind, he was relatively fast. Somehow he was managing to at least take on less damage and even push the attack once in a while even with his thin body, generous personality as well as the fact that he came from No. 6.

Shaking her head and almost smiling she called her uncle over, successfully stopping the sparring session. Shion was drenched in sweat, and he would probably want to go home instead of work off his lessons. Grinning wickedly she stepped lightly and got up right behind him before reaching out to tap his shoulder, noticing how he automatically tensed up.

"Go earn it by feeding the dogs while they work," she pushed him inside. "You better do an amazing job or a certain someone might get some juicy details about today." She had been surprised when she touched him and his body temperature was lower than expected. He had still been out there with her uncle, so she supposed that he had a high tolerance for cold temperatures. She wondered where he got it from. It definitely wasn't from No. 6.

-xXVXx-

He had faith in himself, as well as fierce determination. If he fed each dog as well as gave its fur a quick brush he was sure to please Dogkeeper. If Dogkeeper was satisfied then she would make good on her agreement not to tell Nezumi. Humming cheerfully to himself he noticed how cold he was. Shivering he tapped the first dog, signaling to it that he was there to take care of it. By now it was a bit of a ritual and it immediately detangled itself from the customer and stood next to him. Thanking it in hushed tones as to not wake the sleeping man that the dog was keeping warm he handed the dog its food and began to run a brush through its fur.

The animal seemed quite content to stand there, and pretty soon its coat was shining with a sleek glow that it formally didn't possess. Giving it one last pat Shion moved on to the next dog. He worked for hours in that fashion, never getting less efficient as he went on. When he was finally done he drooped considerably before going to report that he was done. At that point he was already three hours later starting home than usual, prompting him to figure out if he had time to make some sort of dinner before Nezumi got home.

Thanking Dogkeeper profusely he practically sprinted out into the snow, eager to start cooking. For all he knew Nezumi had gotten back early like the previous day and was wondering what was going on. That thought spurred him on even faster, not wanting his companion to find out what he was trying to do before he was ready. His breath was making puffy while clouds behind him as he moved, though they quickly dissipated into nothing more than a slightly warmer breeze.

As soon as he arrived at home he laid out his things to dry in front of the stove and changed into a long sleeved shirt and pants. He also made sure to wear socks and a hat, even if they weren't necessary inside. They would cover up the biggest percentage of his dark purple bruises. He wasn't sure how he could cover the one on his cheek though. It overlapped with the light red stripe, and that was almost never hidden. Deciding that he could just have his hair in his face and hope that it was distracting enough he did so and began to cook.

Hurriedly he poured broth and water mixtures into the well-used pot and began to chop up ingredients at random. They weren't in his usual careful shapes, but if they were to have time to cook long enough to be convincing he had to get them into to pot as soon as possible. When he was almost finished slicing up the last of the knotted carrots he sliced his pinkie finger open.

Cringing he wiped to drips onto his pants leg and finished up. The tiny bit of red that got into the pot disappeared almost immediately, and he was sure that it wouldn't be noticed. As he grabbed a piece of rag to tie up his finger he heard the front door open. 'Act casual…' He told himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**First update of the new year! I hope that everyone had nice holidays and birthdays etc.**

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Turning his back to the front door he tried to remember if he usually greeted Nezumi when he came home. In his panicked state he couldn't, and visibly shook as his brain raced to remedy the problem. After a few seconds he decided that a simple hello would suffice, and mumbled it as he leaned over the pot to examine the frothing liquid inside. Mentally he gave himself a pep talk; saying that there was no way that Nezumi knew that something was up. But then again it was Nezumi that he was talking about…

As his thoughts started to get negative he took a deep breath and wiped everything away with a swipe of his mental hand. Slowly he calmed down and let the blank nothingness take hold of him as Nezumi asked what was going on.

"Nothing special, I'm making dinner," he blatantly lied through his teeth. And of course Nezumi caught him right away, since he almost never tried to tell untruths.

"That's not true." He felt hands on his left pant leg. "There's a blood smear on your pants and you're wearing an awful lot to be standing over the stove," he said critically. There was a long pause until he began to speak again. "Shion what happened today? Please tell me that you didn't go off somewhere by yourself and get the crap beaten out of you."

He didn't respond. Actually he felt elated; Nezumi had just come up with the perfect excuse for his many bruises and scrapes. The only issue would be making sure to cover the dark spot oon his back that was distinctly paw shaped. That couldn't be too hard though, it wasn't like Nezumi randomly pulled his shirt up all the time. Taking his lack of response as affirmation the taller sighed and in one swift movement pulled the hat off his head. There was only a few tiny specks of dried blood, but on his white hair it stood out.

"Shion what have I told you about doing things like this! What was it this time?" He shook his head as he continued. "This is worse than usual though, who were you _playing _with today?"

-xXVXx-

Actually it was pretty worried. Shion had never looked this bad before, and generally he didn't try to hide it. Lately they also seemed to be drifting apart, and it had taken it a long time to admit it to himself. It had also taken him an insane amount of time to acknowledge how much he completely and utterly _cared _about Shion, more than he should. He had been in denial for so such a long time that just admitting his feelings to himself had merit.

"Let me see," he commanded as he yanked Shion around to face him, not giving the other a chance to respond. Already he could see an ugly purple spot on the albino's cheek. Growling he pushed up the long sleeves and exposed more bruises and a few shallow cuts. Hissing inaudibly he bent over to further examine the minor injuries. They he was almost unable to look at them. It pained him somewhere deep inside that Shion's pale skin could look like this.

"What happened to you?" He shook the other as he spoke, trying to ignore how he clearly flinched away. It only made him mad when Shion adverted his eyes and refused to answer him. Was there no trust whatsoever between them? Trying not to show how much it hurt him he let go of the albino's arms and tossed a "whatever" his way before disappearing into his vast library.

-xXVXx-

Nezumi's reaction confused him a bit, he was sure that the taller would keep interrogating him until he gave in. Shrugging it off he dished up their dinner and set their bowls onto the wooden crate that doubled as their table. Nezumi had probably just had a bad day and wanted to be alone for a while, after all he was a pretty solitary person most of the time. When his friend made no reappearance after five minutes he went to wash the crimson drops out of his hair.

After a half hour and staring at Nezumi's still full bowl and his empty on he decided to venture into his companion's domain.

"Nezumi?" He said hesitantly, not wanting to disturb the other but at the same time wanting to see him.

"What?" There was a harsh reply to his immediate right, where he had thought the aisle was empty. Instead of jerking back like he wanted to he simply turned that direction.

"Your dinner is still sitting there; do you want me to bring it to you?" He asked sincerely, hoping that his eyes showed that he wasn't just trying to be a bother. It seemed like he succeeded, because the stern quality in Nezumi's storm gray eyes melted a bit as he replied.

"No, I'll just walk it's fine." He sent a brief smile at his friend before following him. He wondered why Nezumi had been acting so funny lately. It probably didn't concern him, or the other would deny him any reasonable answers. Humming to some tune that he had long forgotten both the origin and name of he followed, eager to read to Hamlet. The rat seemed to have taken a liking to his voice when he read, though Nezumi stubbornly kept saying that his tone was flat and devoid of emotion.

-xXVXx-

It didn't matter in the end, they were still friends. Friends. What an odd word. Never before in his life had he called anyone a friend, nor allowed anyone to become close to him because ties to others were obvious weaknesses that could be exploited easily. Yet somehow Shion had wiggled his way into his very being, and made it impossible for him to think about what life would be like in his modest home without him.

After he finished his meal he slid into his bed hours before he usually would, wanting sleep to refuse any questioning thoughts he might have about Shion's behavior and injuries.

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**There will be at least one more chapter because I'm to lazy to write out the entire plot that manifests itself in my head... Please review if you have time and thank you very much to you followers and favoriters (Is that a word?) out there that I haven't been able to personally thank yet!**


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